You're the first person I've ever seen stick up for Joey Crawford, so I must ask, why? You've seen enough games to know he's terrible, and loves being the center of attention, and thus tries to take over games with technical fouls and numerous fouls calls to 'get the game under control' when its just him being an attention whore.

Joey Crawford not getting fired after the Tim Duncan incident just goes to show how strong the NBAs referee union is, let alone some of the other calls he's fucked up over the years, and there's numerous examples. The players and fans alike hate him, and we as fans shouldnt even know his name. Referees should just be in the background doing their job, being invisible, not calling technical fouls on anything that moves just so they get more camera time.

You can't tell me he's a good referee with a straight face.

Fans don't typically post highlight reels full of referees getting calls right. He's one of the best referees easily.

He has officiated a handful of raptor games this year and they've all gone down smoothly; it was Ariza trying to be the center of attention instead of playing basketball - he had to go. He's a hothead.

Tim Duncan used to treat the officials with complete disrespect. Crawford messed up - but Duncan also grew up quite a bit after that. He no longer rolls his eyes and laughs at every call that goes against him acting like a basketball genius amongst officials whose brains are pea-sized in comparison.

the rankings need to be read like this: if the team plays like it does recently, we are the 6th favourite. Think about it, we beat Indiana by 13 and OKC on the road, if we could do that in the playoffs, we could make it to the final, no?

the rankings don't look at things, is Indiana and OKC going 100% against us, or is this team missing 3 starters to injury etc

if we could replicate this level of play over the course of the season and given how lacking in good team is the east, you can see why we'd have the 6th chance. If we were in the west, we would have the 10th-12th chance, but it's a bit easier in this conference.

Fans don't typically post highlight reels full of referees getting calls right. He's one of the best referees easily.

He has officiated a handful of raptor games this year and they've all gone down smoothly; it was Ariza trying to be the center of attention instead of playing basketball - he had to go. He's a hothead.

Tim Duncan used to treat the officials with complete disrespect. Crawford messed up - but Duncan also grew up quite a bit after that. He no longer rolls his eyes and laughs at every call that goes against him acting like a basketball genius amongst officials whose brains are pea-sized in comparison.

I take Crawford over Tony Brothers any day.

I'm not going to change my stance on Joey Crawford, because he's one of the things I hate about the NBA. I can't believe you're sticking up for him when he's continually shown that he cares more about being the center of attention then actually doing what he's paid to do, let alone justifying his actions in the Tim Duncan ejection. Duncan doesn't do anything outstanding with regards to showing up refs in comparison to most of the league, he often complains about calls, but who doesn't?

The fact that Crawford wasn't fired immediately for throwing Duncan out because he was a self conscious little bitch who thought Duncan was laughing at him for making a call is a complete joke. Duncan could have been laughing at anything, but Crawford somehow surmised, from 20+ feet away, that Duncan was specifically trying to show him up because of previous interactions they had, and Crawford wanted to get revenge, its as simple as that. When a ref allows makes decisions based on ego and bravado over actual actions during a game, especially in that matter, he shouldn't be allowed to referee again.

I won't even get into him giving unnecessary technicals to players who just want to discuss calls. There have been numerous close games he's officiated that have been decided by single digits, and one or multiple unnecessary techs handed out by him could be the difference in wins and losses, which is complete bullshit. His temper and impatience shouldn't factor into game results, and they do, which is a huge problem.

I'm not going to change my stance on Joey Crawford, because he's one of the things I hate about the NBA. I can't believe you're sticking up for him when he's continually shown that he cares more about being the center of attention then actually doing what he's paid to do, let alone justifying his actions in the Tim Duncan ejection. Duncan doesn't do anything outstanding with regards to showing up refs in comparison to most of the league, he often complains about calls, but who doesn't?

The fact that Crawford wasn't fired immediately for throwing Duncan out because he was a self conscious little bitch who thought Duncan was laughing at him for making a call is a complete joke. Duncan could have been laughing at anything, but Crawford somehow surmised, from 20+ feet away, that Duncan was specifically trying to show him up because of previous interactions they had, and Crawford wanted to get revenge, its as simple as that. When a ref allows makes decisions based on ego and bravado over actual actions during a game, especially in that matter, he shouldn't be allowed to referee again.

I won't even get into him giving unnecessary technicals to players who just want to discuss calls. There have been numerous close games he's officiated that have been decided by single digits, and one or multiple unnecessary techs handed out by him could be the difference in wins and losses, which is complete bullshit. His temper and impatience shouldn't factor into game results, and they do, which is a huge problem.

Nope ^
All the refs in the this league are ridiculous, and the NBA really need to review the state of refereeing. When commentators and players alike are talking about getting respect from the refs, you know your sport is in a bad place. I grew up watching football, where no matter who the player/team is, and what they're no for, they ref completely unbiased. Well, at least try to.

Loving the team pic. Don't remember any team pictures when Rudy was here. All I remember was crying myself to sleep.

kicking himself for being so emotionally invested
in the Roller-coaster Raptors

Senior Member

Join Date: Dec 2007

Posts: 1,538

Representing:

Crawford can be a good ref when he wants too, but he's probably got the biggest ego of all refs and routinely goes on power trips where he makes ridiculous calls or T's guys up for almost no reason (like Valanciunas' barely perceptible gesture the other night against Washington). Crawford is one of the worst refs for making game-changing decisions to toss guys out or give guys a technical foul for very small things.

Most refs have sensitivity to giving players their second Tech in a game and usually let players flap their gums a bit more after calls. If anything, Crawford goes the other way; he seems to get off on affecting the course of the game with his whistle.

Remember, he was suspended after the B.S. ejection of Duncan for calling two technical fouls on him *WHILE HE WAS SITTING ON THE BENCH*.

I hate refs who think that they're more important than the players - they are an embarrassment to the game, and they take away from my perceived fairness of the game.

kicking himself for being so emotionally invested
in the Roller-coaster Raptors

Senior Member

Join Date: Dec 2007

Posts: 1,538

Representing:

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeyJoJo Shabbadu

It has to cross everyone's minds when Joey Crawford does stuff like the duncan ejection, that he is doing exactly what Tim Donaghy did.

I don't know actually. I see why you would think it, but both their reffing style and demeanour indicate something else.

For example, Donaghy was always calm and unemotional. He rigged games with his actions, but he didn't take center stage in games. He did a good job of being an unknown ref actually - when the scandal broke, lots of people were like "Tim Donaghy who?" I think more than a few of us suspected it was Crawford or Bavetta before the Donaghy name broke. Those aforementioned two are legendary for their bad calls.

Joey Crawford is more of the classic hothead; he is just a red-faced egomaniac who can't stand being shown up by players or even being laughed at behind his back. He just seems to be one of these refs who thinks that the game is about him - everything from his flamboyant. Ie. over-the-top gestures on calls (the classic big step hip shake, slam your arms into your hips blocking call; the overly enthusiastic continuation foul +1 motion, etc.). The getting into players' heads and 'showing them who's boss' when they argue after calls by quickly T'ing them up and staring them down... etc. Crawford just seems to be combative.

How many games has Joey Crawford officiated, and how many people have been ejected. And how does that percentage compare to the percentage overall.

Stars and certain coaches continually manipulate the weaker officials - it's constant and it gives them a huge advantage - it is a far bigger problem then Joey Crawford ejecting somebody who is all out of ideas one out of every 20-30 games.

Since he's been back from the his temporary suspension, Crawford has been one of the best officials in the league.

How many games has Joey Crawford officiated, and how many people have been ejected. And how does that percentage compare to the percentage overall.

Stars and certain coaches continually manipulate the weaker officials - it's constant and it gives them a huge advantage - it is a far bigger problem then Joey Crawford ejecting somebody who is all out of ideas one out of every 20-30 games.

Since he's been back from the his temporary suspension, Crawford has been one of the best officials in the league.

NBA "manipulates" all officials to give superstars a special treatment.
Superstars sell, so NBA makes them a bit more super.
It's "amazing" for a player to get to the basket from behind the 3p line, doesn't matter if he takes extra steps.
A spin move looks amazing if you hop on the pivot foot, moving it a foot.
You can look unstoppable if you craddle the ball, while dribbling.

and it's nothing new, Jordan got phantom calls.
if you know that a single decision by a ref can determine the outcome of the game, and that NBA controls the refs, you pretty much know that it's all a show.
What would sell better, if a hard working team with elder players won the title or a team with superstars which you can market for years to come.

Crawford and the like are just there to detract attention from the overall refereeing tendencies dictated by NBA.
and yes, he's a right annoying twat.

NBA "manipulates" all officials to give superstars a special treatment.
Superstars sell, so NBA makes them a bit more super.
It's "amazing" for a player to get to the basket from behind the 3p line, doesn't matter if he takes extra steps.
A spin move looks amazing if you hop on the pivot foot, moving it a foot.
You can look unstoppable if you craddle the ball, while dribbling.

and it's nothing new, Jordan got phantom calls.if you know that a single decision by a ref can determine the outcome of the game, and that NBA controls the refs, you pretty much know that it's all a show.
What would sell better, if a hard working team with elder players won the title or a team with superstars which you can market for years to come.

Crawford and the like are just there to detract attention from the overall refereeing tendencies dictated by NBA.
and yes, he's a right annoying twat.

I dunno about that.... because if it were true then the Spurs wouldn't have won a single title... And DET wouldn't have beat the Lakers back in '04(?).... and DAL wouldn't have beaten MIA just a few years ago.

I won't deny that there's some bias there that favour the most "marketable" stars of the NBA... but I don't buy the whole "conspiracy theory" thing on the whole.

some games may be decided by a single call, but many do not. And not all NBA refs are vulnerable, some are stronger than others. I'm sure the league has its pool of "house" refs who are easier to manipulate, but ultimately, everything has to be subtle - the league can't just go and tell refs what to do.

Plus, I don't think the league cares as much about who wins a title - the finals are only 7 games, how much of a difference can a lakers- celtics or bucks vs spurs make over the course of the entire season, probably 0.01%. On the other hand, big, marketable stars are the key - without those, the league would not make 10% of their revenues. People pay big bucks to see lebron EVERY game not just in the finals. From a business perspective, the finals are nearly irrelevant.